Public Health Insurance Page

 

Introduction

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President Barack Obama, three committees in the House, and one committee in the Senate have proposed frameworks for reforming the health care system that would allow Americans to keep their employer-provided coverage or, if they do not have such coverage, obtain it through a public or private insurance plan that is available through a “national health insurance exchange,” where plans would compete with each other for members. Like the public Medicare program, the new public health insurance plan in this exchange would be managed by the federal government but would pay private health care providers to deliver care.

The choice of a public health insurance plan is an important part of comprehensive health care reform. It is needed to bring down costs, make coverage affordable, force private health insurance companies to compete, and guarantee that quality, affordable coverage will be there for people no matter what happens.

Reports and Resources

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The Case for a Public Health Insurance Option

Reports by Jacob Hacker (bio)-

• Public Plan Choice In Congressional Health Plans: The Good, The Not-So-Good, And The Ugly (PDF)

• How to Structure Public Health Insurance Plan Choice to Ensure Risk-Sharing, Cost Control, and Quality Improvement (PDF)

      • Resource page

• The Case For Public Plan Choice in National Health Reform: Key to Cost Control and Quality Coverage (PDF)

      • Key Findings(PDF)

      • Public Health Insurance Q and A document (PDF)

• Original "Health Care for America" plan published by the Economic Policy Institute

How to Talk About the Importance of a Public Health Insurance Option

• Public Health Insurance Talking Points

• Public Health Insurance Public Opinion Polling- Lake Research

More Resources

Diane Archer-

• Massachusetts Health Reform: Near Universal Coverage, But No Cost Controls or Guarantee of Quality, Affordable Health Care for All (PDF)

      • Massachusetts Report Key findings (PDF)

Frank Clemente-

• A Public Health Insurance Plan: Reducing Costs and Improving Quality (PDF)

      • Clemente Report Key Findings

      • Report chartpack (PPT)

Other Reports-

• The Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System: A 2020 Vision and the Policies to Pave the Way

• Leaders and Experts Agree that a Public Insurance Option is Critical to the Success of Obama’s Health Reform Proposals (PDF)